THIS WEEKEND Tumbleweeds
blew through North American theaters as movie fans forgot that there were
films playing at their local cinemas. For the first time in three years,
no film managed to generate at least $9M in weekend ticket sales. The new
supernatural teen thriller The Covenant
was able to top the charts while the murder mystery Hollywoodland
debuted in the runnerup spot. The overall top ten crawled to
its worst performance in three years as not a single wide release was able
to generate at least $4,000 per theater.

Limping into first place with a not-so-impressive debut was The
Covenant with $8.9M from 2,681 theaters, according to final
studio figures. The Sony thriller averaged a sluggish $3,302 per playdate,
but was big enough to lead the pack over such a weak frame. Budgeted at
only $20M, the PG-13 pic features a group of young prep school warlocks
who unleash supernatural powers when evil strikes. It was the studio's
ninth number one opening of 2006, but also the worst gross for a number
one film since Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
debuted this very weekend in 2003 with a puny $6.7M.

Most of the box office deficit when compared to last year can be blamed
on the mediocre debut of Covenant which
took in less than one-third of the $30.1M bow the studio saw in 2005 this
weekend with its last post-Labor Day scarefest The
Exorcism of Emily Rose. The rest of the top ten this weekend
grossed a combined $40.1M which was almost identical to the $40.6M from
the corresponding films from last year.

Opening in second place was the crime thriller Hollywoodland
with $5.9M from only 1,548 theaters for Focus. The R-rated tale
examining the investigation behind the death of Superman actor George
Reeves averaged a mild $3,828 per site. That was good enough to be the
best average among all wide releases. Starring Adrien Brody, Diane Lane,
and Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland received
mixed reviews from critics, but did manage to win the best actor prize
over the weekend at the Venice International Film Festival for Affleck's
portrayal of Reeves.

Dropping from first to third place, Mark Wahlberg's two-time box office
champ Invincible took in $5.6M falling
a steep 54%. After 17 days, the Disney sports drama has scored $45.5M.

Bowing in fourth place was Thai action star Tony Jaa's The
Protector with $5M from 1,541 sites. Averaging a lukewarm $3,267,
the R-rated pic from The Weinstein Co. generated an opening weekend average
similar to the $3,449 figure that Jaa's Ong Bak
posted last year when it opened to $1.3M from only 387 theaters.

Action star Jason Statham's Crank
dropped a hefty 53% in its second weekend to $4.9M pushing its cume to
$20M. After ten days, the Lionsgate release is running slightly ahead of
the $17.2M that Statham's 2002 film The Transporter
made during the same time period, but behind the $30.3M of its sequel from
last year. Look for Crank to finish
up with $27-30M. Enjoying the smallest decline in the top ten was the Edward
Norton-Paul Giamatti mystery The Illusionist
which dipped just 27% to $4.5M. Yari Film Group expanded the pic by 391
theaters and has collected $18M thus far.

Following close behind with $4.3M was Fox Searchlight's Little
Miss Sunshine which dropped 44%. Total to date is a solid $41.5M.
Nicolas Cage's suspense thriller The Wicker Man
fell 58% in its second weekend to $4.1M. With only $17.4M in ten days,
the Warner Bros. release looks on course to reach a disappointing $25M.

Talladega Nights, the highest-grossing
film since Johnny Depp's Pirates sequel
set sail, dropped 51% in its sixth lap to $3M boosting Sony's total to
$142.2M. Rounding out the top ten was Paramount's hit toon Barnyard,
the only major kidpic in release, which grossed $2.7M. Off 45%, the PG-rated
comedy has grossed a healthy $67M to date.

Three August releases dropped out of the top ten this weekend. Paramount's
World Trade Center took in $2.6M, down
44%, for a $67.2M sum. The $65M Nicolas Cage drama should end with a solid
$71-74M final. Buena Vista's surprise hit dance drama Step
Up dropped 44% in its fifth weekend to $2.5M. With $61.7M in
the bank, the teen pic looks to finish with around $65M. Universal's teen
comedy Accepted collected $2.5M, off
45%, and upped its total to $32.2M. A $35-37M final grade is in store for
the $23M production.

The top ten films grossed a puny $48.9M which was down 31% from last
year when The Exorcism of Emily Rose debuted
at number one with $30.1M; and down 16% from 2004 when Resident
Evil: Apocalypse opened in the top spot with $23M.

Compared to projections, The Covenant,
Hollywoodland, and The
Protector all opened a bit below my respective forecasts of
$11M, $8M, and $6M.

For NEW reviews of Al Franken: God Spoke
and Hollywoodland visit The
Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday
for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Gridiron
Gang, The Black Dahlia,
The Last Kiss, and Everybody's
Hero all open.

This column is updated three times each week:
Thursday
(upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday
(post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday
night (actuals). Data source: Exhibitor
Relations and EDI. Opinions expressed
in this column are those solely of the author.